Gasoline and Prosperity

Share

In January 2020, my friend and I spent a week in Belize. We rented a car so we could get off the coast for our second trip and see the ruins, the jaguar preserve, Amish country, etc. He paid the car rental, and I paid for gas. At first, he thought this would be in my favour until he discovered the prices at the pump. Even more suprising was the reaction of the people in Belize when I arrived for gas.

In Belize, someone pumps your gas for you. It took me a few times before I noticed the look of surprise on their faces when, after they asked me how much to put in, I told them to fill it up. You see, back in 2020 the average annual salary in Belize was $10,000 so they only bought as much gas as they needed. My friend and I drove 1200 miles on that car in a week and used a fair amount of gas, and we didn't want to have to stop to get a few gallons here and there. I realized then that this showed them I was "wealthy" at least by comparison.

Contrast that to yesterday when I went to the gas station to fill my car in Las Vegas. The pumps tell a story of desperation. Despite reassurances that Bidenomics is working, people were buying 1.2 gallons, 5 gallons, and except for one other pump, nobody spent more than $20 on gas, and these people were putting it directly into their cars, not a jerry can for a lawnmower or something (which I also do sometimes). Granted, my Saturn only holds 12.125 gallons, but I put 11 gallons in the car and DIDN'T BAT AN EYE at the price. I'm upset it's this high, but I'm apparently prosperous enough that I don't have to actually ration money for gasoline.

Let's face it- driving is a privilege. We take it for granted in our society that we can jump in a car, go for a drive, and see the world. Most of our ancestors either walked everywhere or rode a horse. In the last 18 months, I have flown to Europe thrice, trips which would have taken a year in total if I had to go by ship. We are so prosperous now that we don't even know it, but the degree to which people do drive does indicate how prosperous our society actually is.

If you like me are over 40, you probably remember being able to fill your tank for $20 and burn a tank in a day and not worry. Back in 2007, I would fill my car every Saturday and drive as far as a tank would take me and back. Most I ever spent on gas was $30 and that was when I had to buy Chevron or gas in the middle of nowhere. It was a cheap day of entertainment. I used to drive around at night for fun. Now I don't. I only drive to things I really care to do, and I sometimes even walk my errands (the grocer is a mile each way).

Personal prosperity is reflected in our gasoline consumption. When times are good, we drive a lot. When times are dire, we only put in as much gas as we need. Apparently many Americans are living as if they have the standard of living of your average Belizean, and only putting in enough gallons to get to their next paycheck. On the one hand it's good because it means they are not wracking up credit card debt. On the other hand it's bad, and I feel for them because cars equal freedom.

I found a graph that I think is interesting showing inflation of fast food over the past ten years.

If you consider the actual inflation rate, it tells an interesting story. The rate of inflation increased significantly in 2021, coinciding with a change in which party leads this nation. I do not think it is a coincident. Our prosperity is down as a rule. I'm just doing well enough that I didn't notice the gasoline asymptote when I was in Belize, and I haven't felt it until yesterday. I still stay under my gasoline budget for the month, but that's because I don't drive anywhere "just because I feel like it" anymore. When I break the budget, I'll know even I'm impacted by Bidenomics, something of which Kamala Harris is very proud.

Food for thought.

Most Christians Are Actually Heretics

Share

People all around me like to call me heretic because I don’t subscribe to traditional catholic (or other Christian) dogma. However, I recently lighted upon a traditional belief that is far more heretical than anything I believe because it is actually a way in which we deny the Christ. Most Chrisitan faith alleges that God is no respector of persons while teaching that He is. That is not a merciful God, nor is it a Christian principle.

While serving as a missionary in Neumarkt am Wallersee Austria, we tracted into the Andexer Family. They invited us in because their son, who was probably around 20 at the time of his death, had not been baptized as a child. The local pastor told them that, because their son was not baptized as an infant, he was condemned to hell. We shared with them our dogma, it gave them hope, and while they never embraced our Faith, they from that time forward were friendly towards us and would wave when they saw us in town. He gave them wrath; we gave them hope. And whosoever beleiveth in God might with surety hope for a better world. Another chance.

You see, the teaching that only those who are baptized as children can be saved means that God is a respector of persons. Only those appropriately baptized as youth while alive can be saved by Christ. This denies the Christ, not that He exists, but that He is the Christ came to rescue and redeem ALL men. The catholic dogma, and in fact most Christian religions, make no provision for posthumous ordinances despite the fact that Paul asked “Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?” (1 Corinthians 15:29). This seems to imply that there was provision in the early church for those who had not the chance to accept Christ while alive to accept it once they passed out of the mortal realm.

It's not just Christians who are condemned to be cast by God’s wrath to hell by this heresy. This means that all people all over the world, either blinded by the subtle craftiness of men, or kept from the truth because they know not where to find it, are condemned, because they were BORN UNABLE TO HEAR ABOUT CHRIST. No Dane, nor Iriquois, nor Magyar, nor Selucid, nor Berber may be saved by Christ because they were not blessed by God to be born in a place and time to hear about Him. How can Christ be the Savior of Mankind if most of mankind is not allowed to be saved because they were not baptized Catholic, particularly as children? This is heresy. Worse, it is anti-Christ.

Regardless of where or when someone lived, all can hear and accept the message of the Redeemer and Christ’s Atoning Sacrifice through the sealing powers made possible in the Lord’s House. For Christ came not to destroy but to fulfill, and what does He fulfill, the promise that all mankind MAY be saved, if they wish to be. Now modern Christians teach how all you must do is accept Christ and let Him in, and then they shut the door and bar any of the Pagans from entry and don’t even give them a chance to hear and accept. This message gives men hope. This message brings the Good News of the Gospel. It also comforts Christians who are fearful, selfish, lazy or timid enough that they fail to either come to Christ themselves or invite others WHO ARE ALIVE to join us. Who are we to decide who gets to hear about Christ? Who are we to decide who gets to be saved by Christ because we decide NOT to preach of Him to them and thereby condemn them forever to hell by our bias? Through proxy ordinances, those who died not having the privilege of knowing about Christ may accept Him, follow Him, obey Him, magnify His name, and partake of His mercy, grace and love.

No man must be condemned by circumstance or choice forever to hell. That does not sound like a loving God to me. Rather, He made provision that all mankind may be saved and exalted by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel, regardless of their location in space or in time, even those who are beyond the grave. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whoso believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Even if they died before Christ or before they got a chance to hear about Him.

The simple fact of the matter is that we do not know who will be saved by Christ. Everyone CAN be, but that’s between them and Christ, and we have very little if any say in that. The catholic church has made it part of its dogma ever since anyone knows to deny the Christ and claim that they know who can and will be saved, but we don’t know that. In truth, I suspect myriads of Christians will awake on resurrection day not only surprised where they end up but also by those in whose company they find themselves.

Why I Oppose Student Loan Forgiveness

Share

I first started teaching university classes in 2008, and let me tell you I have learned a lot about the university system from being part of it this long. I have learned that some of the rumors are true that you believe and use as rationale to think that college is a scam. I have also learned a few other things. I learned that the first student loans the Biden administration forgave were for the ART institute. I asked the president, or whomever is impersonating him on Twitter, why no STEM loans were paid off and postulated it was perhaps because those people could find jobs and pay their own loans. Everyone should. If I was not consulted in the terms of the loan, why should I be obligated to pay the debt? Especially if the debtor is not. Nevada's students are not the highest grade ore you can dig up, and so we have tons of people attending university in Nevada who are not ready to actually achieve, succeed and prosper, and it puts a burden on the taxpayer and the professor to bring them up to snuff. Also, I don't know where the extra money went. It certainly doesn't make it into the classroom or my bank account. We have some professors who do extremely well and a horde of officers that waste our substance and harass us at our work, but that's another topic altogether.

Students are not ready to be here. A few weeks back, I went out to exercise my second amendment rights with a family friend who retired from the county school district. Among other interesting things, he confirmed that the Clark County School District did indeed force him while he was still teaching to pass students if they came to class a sufficient number of times. You don't have to pass the tests, submit the homework or even participate. Just attend, and you can get a C. This means that we have college students in Nevada who learned the square root of squat who are able to get into classes in Nevada Higher Education because our graduates have special privileges in college acceptance. I can't find an electronic copy of the article, but I share with my students an old copy of the Review-Journal that shows that 71% are not college ready, and that was in 2009.

Students abuse funding. Last summer, I noticed that every student in my Chemistry 108 (Nursing chemistry) class had two of the following items at least: an iPhone, an apple watch, and an iPad. When I asked how they could all afford those things, they unabashedly confessed that they bought them with their student financial aid. They were all hoping that, after getting student loans, they could buy frivolous and tangential things with that money and then have Biden forgive their student debt. I heard from the finance office that people are cheating the system by taking out credit cards in false names, paying for classes, pocketing the financial aid and never paying off the cards. I dont' know how widespread it is, but I know it happens. And it sickens me.

College degrees are a qualification for a job but no guarantee of a lifestyle let alone a position. Unless you are going into STEM or something highly specialized that requires collegiate training, college is a luxury rather than a good choice. How many English majors do we need? How many business majors? How many of these things have I actually learned while working for a PBS affiliate, for a rental car company, or in a logistics warehouse that were never taught at university? You can in many cases earn significantly more money learning a trade instead. In fact, statistics show that men are less likely to finish on time (if they ever graduate) than women, and that 71% of college students (female) in Nevada finish on time. Now I could tell you that most of my female students are still in traditionally female roles. Most chemistry students of the feminine persuasion are headed to teaching or nursing or some related health care support role. Very few of them are going to medical school or into laboratory science. I can name some, and they are spectacular, but most of the female students are not in STEM. Therefore, they are wasting their time getting a degree for a job that pays less per hour than Panda Express.

My paternal grandfather always believed that he was stymied by not having a college degree and insisted on his children earning one. My father never uses his and did quite well. I think that college degrees give you OPTIONS. But what they don't give me is a return on my investment. Politicians constantly cry that "education is an investment in our future". Well, investments pay the INVESTOR, and if I have to pay off THEIR loans, that sounds more like a long con than an investment. As long as we have unprepared students learning irrelevant programs and spending money on unrelated items, they should have to pay off their own loans. You should have to do your own homework. Unless the job you seek actually requires a degree, a degree is probably a waste of time, effort and money, particularly the more you have to retake classes, and I see tons of people retake classes who don't finish the second go around either.

Too many of our students are cheating their way through life and themselves out of a good life. Several years ago, a student came to me one night and told me she would do ANYTHING in my class to get an A. When I asked her why she didn't do the homework I assigned, I understood that she didn't mean what she said. Her lab partner, who overheard this, confirmed that this young lady was cheating her way through university and found me unexpectedly formidable. If we do not ask them to do their own work, pay their own bills while at university, who will do the work and pay the bills after they leave? It is hard to tell students no. I am frequently accused of bigotry, sexism, or inappropriate conduct, but only because students are trying to game the system. Often it would be less work and more fulfilling if they did the actual work required and actually earned it. That's why I don't think their loans should be forgiven. Ever. Most of the ones who default have no intention of paying anyway, and if you lead with loan forgiveness, we'll have even more students come here who are unprepared to succeed, unwilling to work, and unable to make anything out of our charity. And costs will go ever higher, financially, ecumenically, and psychologically. Mark my word.